thoughts on LWN "how many Fedora users are there"

[Andy Green]

Les Mikesell wrote:

> How can I keep my information from being collected in logs on
> repositories where I actually need the files?  You may claim
> you have a way that will keep you from using them, but how
> can you prove that to me?

Well generally the basis of visiting any site on the Internet with TCP 
demands that your destination knows your IP address.  If RHAT say that 
they anonymize the capture of such information, that is only a courtesy, 
since whatever box you connected to fully knows what IP you had at that 
time.  So they shouldn't need to 'prove' anything, your assumption 
should be that by connecting to a site (to get the benfit of updates for 
$0) your IP is known.  Anything else RHAT anonymize is a bonus.

-Andy